Vis-À-Vis: “The Novel Vs. Cinema And Television”

The venue for the first panel of Vis-À-Vis was located in the entry area of the Consortium Gallery in Venice, California. Surrounded by large, colorful abstract paintings and a couple of black and white photographs, the audience patiently waited for the session to begin. Actually more seating had to be added as more people than had been anticipated arrived for the session. Of course that took time and the panel began later than its scheduled start hour. The front door to the Consortium remained opened during the panel readings and discussion, which allowed not only more people to enter, but also outside noises as well. It was a drawback to the ambience to hear the sounds of car engines and cell phone conversations jolt into the space and compete with the voices of the authors.

The authors for this initial panel were Philippe Djian (Impardonnables), Steve Erickson (Zeroville), and Norman Klein (The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory) and the panel moderator was Laure Murat. The majority of the time was devoted to the reading of excerpts/notes from a work by each author. An excerpt from Philippe Dijian’s Impardonnables (Unforgivable) was begun in English by an actor, continued in French by Djian, and finished, once again by the actor, in English. Then Steve Erickson read excerpts, in English, from the beginning of Zeroville. Finally, instead of reading an excerpt from The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory, Norman Klein chose to present notes and ideas from a work he is in the process of writing.

From the short discussion that followed, Djian offered, in regard to cinema, “change the angles, change the view of the world.” Some of Djian’s works have been made into films, but he does not feel betrayed if the film is not an exact reflection of his words. That was unexpected – I know that I would want any writings of mine to be filmed accurately. If there were to be changes, then I would want to be the screenwriter and make them myself. Erickson mentioned The English Patient as an influence, while for Klein it was Tristram Shandy (complete title: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman). The consensus distinction between cinema and the novel is that film making is a collective endeavor, while writing is a private one - the team versus the individual. Even though one of them had been a film student (Erickson), obviously working individually won out, though films are the centerpiece of his novel Zeroville. Perhaps having an actual filmmaker as part of the panel would have added another insight into the discussion.

After the panel ended, books by the authors were for sale and I bought a paperback copy of Steve Erickson’s Zeroville. And before he settled into videotaping an interview, Erickson signed my newly purchased book. I do know that before reading Zeroville I will have to watch “A Place in the Sun” again, as that is the protagonist’s core film – in fact the faces of the two lead actors are inked on his head for all to see. Now that’s one way to start a dialogue – têtes à tête!


Images:
Left: Front cover of Impardonnables (Unforgivable) from the website visavisla.blogspot.com
Center: Front cover of Zeroville from the website visavisla.blogspot.com
Right: Front cover of The History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory from the website visavisla.blogspot.com